Painting Mental Pictures
I have recently become a BLOG-aholic. My favorite pastime is reading other people’s BLOGs. DCBlogs provides the ideal forum for this because it gives you links to such a wide variety of writing and photos.
As I click on a new BLOG with no pictures and little personal information, I immediately find myself creating a visual image of what this person looks like and an aural image of what she sounds like. Is everyone curious, or is this just my peculiarity?
I have always had this curiosity. I have mental images of all the local radio show hosts. I realize when I finally see a picture of one of them how very wrong I was. But somehow I need this picture to connect with the voice.
The Internet adds an even greater level of mystery because there is no voice, only the words. So you are often left to wonder about age, sex, race, sexual preference, marital status, voice – all those things that we use to characterize people around us.
I often find myself returning to BLOGs where the author is one of these mystery people – trying to look for those clues that might define her. Why in the world does it really matter?
As I click on a new BLOG with no pictures and little personal information, I immediately find myself creating a visual image of what this person looks like and an aural image of what she sounds like. Is everyone curious, or is this just my peculiarity?
I have always had this curiosity. I have mental images of all the local radio show hosts. I realize when I finally see a picture of one of them how very wrong I was. But somehow I need this picture to connect with the voice.
The Internet adds an even greater level of mystery because there is no voice, only the words. So you are often left to wonder about age, sex, race, sexual preference, marital status, voice – all those things that we use to characterize people around us.
I often find myself returning to BLOGs where the author is one of these mystery people – trying to look for those clues that might define her. Why in the world does it really matter?
posted by Barbara at 11:51 AM
2 Comments:
Bloggers are a varied group, which makes it all the more interesting to check in and receive different perceptions on life. Whether we agree or not, it rattles us into thinking about things in a new manner. I like the immediacy of blogging. I keep wondering how to push the boundaries further.
Taking this one step further -- maybe one of the true benefits of blogging is the fact that we are not prejudiced by those defining factors. Instead the word is the medium. I feel as though my rather narrow world is constantly being expanded as I am exposed to the lives of others. I find myself becoming sad over the plight of a perfect stranger. But then again, maybe we aren't perfect strangers after all. Blogging may just be a new way of defining friendship, an extension of the flat world.
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